Wegner senate

The Wegner senate is the current state government of Berlin, sworn in on 27 April 2023 after Kai Wegner was elected as Governing Mayor of Berlin by the members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. It is the 29th Senate of Berlin.

Senate of Kai Wegner Senate Wegner
29th Senate of Berlin
27 April 2023 –
The members of the Wegner senate at the Abgeordnetenhaus plenary session on 27 April 2023 From left to right: Ina Czyborra, Christian Gaebler, Cansel Kiziltepe, Stefan Evers, Katharina Günther-Wünsch, Felor Badenberg, Joe Chialo, Iris Spranger, Manja Schreiner, Franziska Giffey
Date formed	27 April 2023
People and organisations
Governing Mayor	Kai Wegner
Deputy Mayor	Franziska Giffey Stefan Evers
No. of ministers	10
Member parties	Christian Democratic Union Social Democratic Party
Status in legislature	Coalition government (Majority)
Opposition parties	Alliance 90/The Greens The Left Alternative for Germany
History
Election	2023 Berlin repeat state election
Legislature term	19th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
Predecessor	Giffey senate

It was formed after the 2023 Berlin repeat state election by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD). Excluding the Governing Mayor, the senate comprises ten ministers, called Senators. Five are members of the SPD, four are members of the CDU, and one is an independent politician (nominated by the CDU).

Formation

See also: 2023 Berlin repeat state election

The previous Senate was a coalition government of the SPD, Left, and Greens led by Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey of the SPD.

The election took place on 12 February 2023, and resulted in a clear victory for the opposition CDU, moved from third to first place with 28% of the vote on a swing of ten percentage points. The SPD declined to 18.5% and finished just 53 votes ahead of the Greens. The Left recorded a small decline and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) a small improvement.

Overall, the outgoing coalition retained a reduced majority. After talks with several parties, on 1 March the SPD vote 25 to 12 to seek negotiations with the CDU for a grand coalition.^[1] Negotiations began on 13 March and concluded on 3 April, with the two parties presenting a 135-page agreement.^[2] It was subsequently submitted for approval by the SPD membership. The results of the vote were announced on 23 April, with 54.3% voting in favour on a turnout of 64%.^[3]

The Abgeordnetenhaus elected Wegner as Governing Mayor on 27 April. He failed to win the first two ballots and was elected on the third, winning won 86 votes out of 159 cast, with 70 against, and three abstentions.^[4]

Governing Mayor election Kai Wegner (CDU)[5]
Ballot →		27 April 2023
Required majority →		80 out of 159	80 out of 159	Simple majority
	For	71 / 159 N	79 / 159 N	86 / 159 Y
	Against	86 / 159	79 / 159	70 / 159
	Abstentions	1 / 159	1 / 159	3 / 159
	Invalid	1 / 159	0 / 159	0 / 159

Policy

In May 2023, the Wegner government created the role of Queer Berlin Liaison Officer.^[6]

Composition

Portfolio	Senator		Party		Took office	Left office	State secretaries
Governing Mayor of Berlin Senate Chancellery		Kai Wegner born (1972-09-15) 15 September 1972 (age 52)		CDU	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Florian Graf (Head of the Senate Chancellery)
Deputy Mayor Senator for Economy, Energy and Enterprise		Franziska Giffey born (1978-05-03) 3 May 1978 (age 47)		SPD	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Severin Fischer Michael Biel
Deputy Mayor Senator for Finance		Stefan Evers born (1979-10-10) 10 October 1979 (age 45)		CDU	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Tanja Mildenberger (Finance) Wolfgang Schyrocki (Personnel)
Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion		Joe Chialo born (1970-07-18) 18 July 1970 (age 55)		CDU	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Sarah Wedl-Wilson (Culture) Oliver Friederici (Civic Engagement and Democracy)
Senator for Urban Development, Construction and Housing		Christian Gaebler born (1964-12-08) 8 December 1964 (age 60)		SPD	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Alexander Slotty Stephan Machulik Petra Kahlfeldt (Construction Director)
Senator for Interior and Sport		Iris Spranger born (1961-09-19) 19 September 1961 (age 63)		SPD	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Christian Hochgrebe (Interior) Nicola Böcker-Giannini (Sport)
Senator for Education, Youth and Family		Katharina Günther-Wünsch born (1983-04-03) 3 April 1983 (age 42)		CDU	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Falko Liecke (Youth) Torsten Kühne (School Construction) Christina Henke (Interior School Affairs)
Senator for Science, Health and Care		Ina Czyborra born (1966-06-23) 23 June 1966 (age 59)		SPD	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Ellen Haußdörfer (Health) Henry Marx (Science)
Senator for Labour, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination		Cansel Kiziltepe born (1975-10-08) 8 October 1975 (age 49)		SPD	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Aziz Bozkurt (Social Affairs) Max Landero (Integration and Anti-Discrimination) Micha Klapp (Labour and Equality)
Senator for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and Environment		Manja Schreiner born (1978-04-29) 29 April 1978 (age 47)		CDU	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Britta Behrendt (Environment) Claudia Stutz (Transport)
Senator for Justice and Consumer Protection		Felor Badenberg born (1975-05-21) 21 May 1975 (age 50)		Ind. (CDU nomination)	27 April 2023	Incumbent	Dirk Feuerberg (Justice) Esther Uleer (Consumer Protection)